اللغات

Iran: Call for release of human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience

The International Solidarity network, Women Living Under Muslim Laws, joins civil society groups and organisations such as Amnesty International, The Feminist school, The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and The Observatory in condemning the recent wave of arrests of over 18 women's rights activists and the harsh sentences passed on three journalists in December 2009 and January 2010.

(6 January 2009) Islamic Republic authorities are attempting to shut down the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, and to stop the human rights activities of the student alumni group ADVAR, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on 6 January 2009. Some members of the groups are being arrested, and others are under intense pressure to halt their work.

Members of the Committee: Parisa Kakaie, Mehrdad Rahimi, Shiva Nazarahari, Kouhyar Goudarzi and Saeed Hayeri were arrested on 2 December 2009, as reported by the Campaign. Previously, on 1 December 2009, Committee members Saeed Kalanaki and Saeed Jalalifar were arrested. Both are being held in the public ward in Evin prison. Jalalifar has been denied any visits. The Committee maintains that arrested members are being forced to confess links with the Mojahedin Khalq Organization, an opposition group operating abroad.

The state has arrested key members of student alumni group ADVAR, a unit devoted to monitoring human rights violations and advocating on the issue. On 2 January, ADVAR members Rouzbeh Karimi and Forouq Mirzaie were arrested. Rashid Esmaieli, of the Central Council of ADVAR, was arrested on 24 December 2009 while suffering from serious health problems.

According to Amnesty International, more than 60 foreign institutions, including human rights organizations, were banned. A statement issued by the Iranian authorities on Tuesday also designates as subversive a number of foreign media outlets, thereby criminalizing contacts with them, further obstructing reporting on human rights violations. Such moves are a breach of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a state party, which pertains to freedom of information.

Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i and Saeed Laylaz have been sentenced to prison terms, Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i also to flogging. Keyvan Samimi Behbehani remains in solitary confinement. All three men are prisoners of conscience, currently held in Evin prison. Bahman Ahmadi Amou'i, an editor at the business daily paper Sarmayeh which was closed by the authorities on 2 November, was sentenced to seven years and four months’ imprisonment and 32 lashes on 4 January 2010. Saeed Laylaz, also an editor at Sarmayeh, was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment on 2 December 2009.

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the third update to UA 171/09 (MDE 13/062/2009). Further information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/062/2009/en, http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/092/2009/en and http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/115/2009/en